It's the most
terrible
of all.
Kipling - Poems
.
.
There are only us two in the world for all
purposes, and--and you like to have me with you? "
"Of course I do. I wonder if you can realise how utterly lonely I am! "
"Darling, I think I can. "
"Two years ago, when I first took the little house, I used to walk up
and down the back-garden trying to cry. I never can cry. Can you? "
"It's some time since I tried. What was the trouble? Overwork? "
"I don't know; but I used to dream that I had broken down, and had no
money, and was starving in London. I thought about it all day, and it
frightened me--oh, how it frightened me! "
"I know that fear.
It's the most terrible of all. It wakes me up in the
night sometimes. You oughtn't to know anything about it. "
"How do you know? "
"Never mind. Is your three hundred a year safe? "
"It's in Consols. "
"Very well. If any one comes to you and recommends a better
investment,--even if I should come to you,--don't you listen. Never
shift the money for a minute, and never lend a penny of it,--even to the
red-haired girl. "
"Don't scold me so! I'm not likely to be foolish. "
"The earth is full of men who'd sell their souls for three hundred a
year; and women come and talk, and borrow a five-pound note here and
a ten-pound note there; and a woman has no conscience in a money debt.
Stick to your money, Maisie, for there's nothing more ghastly in the
world than poverty in London. It's scared me. By Jove, it put the fear
into me!
purposes, and--and you like to have me with you? "
"Of course I do. I wonder if you can realise how utterly lonely I am! "
"Darling, I think I can. "
"Two years ago, when I first took the little house, I used to walk up
and down the back-garden trying to cry. I never can cry. Can you? "
"It's some time since I tried. What was the trouble? Overwork? "
"I don't know; but I used to dream that I had broken down, and had no
money, and was starving in London. I thought about it all day, and it
frightened me--oh, how it frightened me! "
"I know that fear.
It's the most terrible of all. It wakes me up in the
night sometimes. You oughtn't to know anything about it. "
"How do you know? "
"Never mind. Is your three hundred a year safe? "
"It's in Consols. "
"Very well. If any one comes to you and recommends a better
investment,--even if I should come to you,--don't you listen. Never
shift the money for a minute, and never lend a penny of it,--even to the
red-haired girl. "
"Don't scold me so! I'm not likely to be foolish. "
"The earth is full of men who'd sell their souls for three hundred a
year; and women come and talk, and borrow a five-pound note here and
a ten-pound note there; and a woman has no conscience in a money debt.
Stick to your money, Maisie, for there's nothing more ghastly in the
world than poverty in London. It's scared me. By Jove, it put the fear
into me!
